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MIAMI GARDENS — The Dolphins fell to Tampa Bay 17-16 on Saturday but the score was somewhat misleading. The Dolphins starters won 13-10 although Miami struggled to find the endzone.

Let’s look at some at the more interesting stats tonight.

Ryan Tannehill: 17-of-27 for 150 yards and 1 touchdown. Tannehill had a four-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Gibson and he should have had another, but Gibson couldn’t hold on to a 5-yard pass in the endzone. Tannehill had a 90 QBR and Offensive Coordinator Mike Sherman let him air out. Aside from throwing too high on a third-and-8 pass to Mike Wallace, Tannehill was sharp and accurate most of the night.

Charles Clay: He was targeted six times and had just one reception for five yards. It was not a good debut for Clay as Miami’s starting tight end. Dustin Keller was clearly a big loss for the Dolphins, and while Clay will improve, it will be interesting to see if they try to trade for a tight end like Philadelphia’s Brent Celek.

Clay said he had numerous issues but he wouldn’t be specific.

“It’s a lot of things,” Clay said. “I’ve just got to go back to the drawing board, watch the film and get it all corrected. I won’t get into particulars. I’ll just leave it at that.”

Running backs: Let’s end the speculation that Daniel Thomas could unseat Lamar Miller at running back. Miller didn’t play especially well — he had eight carries for 35 yards for 4.4 YPC, but 20 of his yards came on the first play of the game. After that he averaged about 2 YPC.

Thomas was worse. He ran seven times for just three yards with 0.4 YPC. He did have two receptions for 12 yards.

Coach Joe Philbin after the game said Thomas’ game wasn’t as bad as it seemed and that the running backs didn’t have enough carries for a fair evaluation. Dolphins center Mike Pouncey got beat on one of Thomas’ negative rushes in the red zone midway through the second quarter. Miami settled for a field goal on that drive.

“I don’t know if they had enough carries to have a great sense,” Philbin said. “I don’t think Daniel had as many good opportunities and clean runs as Lamar had. Lamar appeared to run the ball well. Daniel never really got on track in the running game. I can’t sit here and tell you it was all his fault.”
Brandon Gibson: He was already a crucial player as Miami’s slot receiver this season, but with Keller out Gibson’s role has skyrocketed. He had five receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown but he dropped another potential touchdown in the endzone. His numbers could have been great if it weren’t for that drop. He had another drop early in the game.

Gibson said “it felt good” to be targeted so much but he felt he could have played a lot better.

“Coverages dictate a lot of where the ball’s thrown and I just wanted to make sure i was in the right spot, even though I kind of played a (bad) half,” Gibson said.

Offensive line: Although Tannehill was sacked a couple of times, at least one of the sacks appeared to be Tannehill’s fault as he held on to the ball too long.

Right tackle Tyson Clabo believes Miami’s offensive line continues to improve. Right guard John Jerry returned to the starting lineup Saturday.

“I think we’re starting to jell a little better,” Clabo said. “We’ve seen so many different fonts and looks and blitzes and situations that we’re definitely better prepared for things that will come up during the season,” Clabo said. “We just have to continue to work on the little things makes an offensive line better than just OK. We have the talent though be pretty special. We just have to focus on the fine details to become what we feel like we can become.”

On the bubble:

– Jonas Gray fumbled late in the game that gave Tampa Bay the win. While it was only one fumble, Gray was already a long shot to make the roster. Expect Miller, Thomas and Mike Gillislee to be the team’s running backs while Gray possibly develops on the practice squad.

– Third-string quarterback Pat Devlin, and not Matt Moore, played the entire second half. The Dolphins are trying to decide whether to keep three quarterbacks on their roster, and if Saturday was any indication, Devlin could be on his way out. Devlin went 12-of-21 with 114 yards and an interception. If anything were to happen to Tannehill and Moore during the season, Philbin might prefer to pick up a veteran free agent instead of using a valuable roster spot on Devlin.